Gay Bar Sues City Over 'Manhole' Ban

BERKLEY, CA - Owners of "The ManHole" - an iconic local establishment catering to gay, non-binary individuals who identify as male - has filed a lawsuit against the City of Berkley over its recent ban of certain gender specific terms. The lawsuit claims the ban is an "egregious assault on non-threatening casual gender specificity" and that forcing the bar to change its name would be detrimental to business.

"No one wants to go to a club called 'The Maintenance Hole'", said co-owner Tristan Keller. "There are hundreds of gay bars in our area, our name screams what we're all about. And on top of that, we already have a storeroom full of banana hammocks and buttless chaps with 'The Manhole' logo on them."

The City passed the ban on certain gender biased words after protests from residents currently identifying as female. "It's horrifying to walk in the street and see those things (manholes) knowing that society has forbidden me to go into them." said a visibly shaken Shala'i Oberon Jensen. "And then to see people drinking soda from plastic straws, it's just too much."

The City has retained the services of Aspinger, Rimmer and Pummel to defend the lawsuit, a firm specializing in the area of non-heterosexual municipal gender legislation. A spokesperson for the firm declined to comment "Until we can fully insert ourselves into the case."